We are remembering Prince Philip who lived a very long and active life. His early years were difficult when, following a coup d’état in 1922, the Greek royal family into which he was born was forced into exile. In 1930 his mother was hospitalised with a serious psychiatric illness. In 1939, at the age of 18, he entered the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth and was on active service in the Royal Navy throughout World War II. In 1941, when serving on HMS Valiant in the Mediterranean Fleet, he was involved in the battle of Matapan against the Italian fleet and was mentioned in dispatches.

Following his marriage to Princess Elizabeth in 1947, and then the death of her father, George VI, in 1952, his life took a new direction as he became consort to his wife, Queen Elizabeth II. At her coronation he was the first to swear allegiance to her promising to be her “liege man of life and limb.” For nearly 70 years he faithfully fulfilled his promise, accompanying his wife on many public engagements all over the world and always walking at least two steps behind her. On their golden wedding anniversary in 1997 the Queen said, “He has, quite simply, been my main strength and stay all these years.”

Prince Philip’s long and varied life was characterised by committed service to the Queen, to his adopted country and to the countries of the Commonwealth. Each year he fulfilled an average of more than 370 personal engagements, excluding those accompanying the Queen, and also accompanied the Queen on all her 251 official overseas visits. He took a particular interest in young people. In 1956 he established the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme to introduce young people to physical, skills-based and community challenges. More than 4 million young people from over 90 countries have taken part in the scheme. Prince Philip retired from public duty in August 2017 at the age of 96.

The Prince has now passed into eternity. In heaven people from all nations and tribes stand before the throne of God and before the Lamb and cry out in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” No one is there because of what they did in this life but because of what Jesus, the supreme Servant, did for them. He is in the centre of the throne and is the focus of heaven’s worship because he came to this earth not to be served, as was his right, but “to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.”